1. Field of the Invention
The present invention related to a money handling method and device, and more particularly to a money handling method and device which can easily switch handling of money between old and new.
2. Description of the Related Art
A coin handling device or a paper money handling device used in the automatic vending machines and the like accepts inserted coins when they are judged authentic by identifying them as authentic or counterfeit and denominations, and allows sales of a commodity, and if change must be dispensed, dispenses the appropriate coins.
A coin or paper money is sometimes replaced with one having a new design, namely a new coin or a new paper money, for various reasons.
Replacement with the new money (new coin or new paper money) does not mean that the existing money (old coin or old paper money) become unusable or is stopped its circulation immediately. In other words, the new money and the old money coexist for a certain period in which the coin handling device or the paper money handling device needs to handle both the new and old moneys. It is because if only one of the new money and the old money is handled during their coexisting period, users feel inconvenient, and the automatic vending machine sides will lose an opportunity of sales.
On the other hand, handling of both the new money and the old money may become complex in management. For example, when new money and old money are accepted in the same way, both the new and old moneys are dispensed as change. It is not desirable to do so after a lapse of predetermined period since the replacement of moneys, and when the new money and the old money are separately accepted, it means that the money types are increased and their handling becomes complex.
Therefore, when replacing the old money with the new money, it is desirable that a suitable period when both of them can be used is determined, and after a lapse of such a period, only the new money is handled.
As described above, it is desirable that the money handling device handles both the new money and the old money when the old one is replaced with the new one, and then the new money only is handled. However, when a conventional money handling device is switched from a mode of handling both the new money and the old money to a mode of handling the new money only, it was necessary to rewrite a program and to make other works, and such works were troublesome.
Besides, the circulation of new money involves a regional difference, and it was hard to switch the mode of handling both the new one and the old one to the mode handling the new one only all together.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a money handling method and device which can automatically stop the acceptance of old money depending on a circulating amount of new money and old money.
To achieve the above object of the invention, there is provided a money handling method to identify inserted old moneys and new moneys as authentic or counterfeit and denominations and to accept or return the old moneys and the new moneys, comprising: monitoring the inserted old moneys and new moneys, and stopping the acceptance of the old moneys when the inserting state of the old and new moneys agrees with a predetermined condition.
A further feature of the subject invention provides that wherein the predetermined condition is that the number of inserted new moneys has reached a predetermined number or more, and after agreeing with the predetermined condition, the old moneys are not accepted but returned.
A further feature of the subject invention provides that wherein the predetermined condition is that the number of new moneys inserted within a predetermined period has reached a predetermined number or more, and after agreeing with the predetermined condition, the old moneys are not accepted but returned.
A further feature of the subject invention provides that wherein the predetermined condition is that a ratio between the number of new moneys and that of old moneys inserted within a predetermined period has reached a predetermined value, and after agreeing with the predetermined condition, the old moneys are not accepted but returned.
A further feature of the subject invention provides that wherein the predetermined condition is that the number of money continuously inserted has exceeded a predetermined value, and after agreeing with the predetermined condition, the old moneys are not accepted but returned.
A further feature of the subject invention provides that wherein the accepted old moneys are recovered and prohibited from being dispensed.
A still further feature of the subject invention is a money handling device to identify inserted old moneys and new moneys as authentic or counterfeit and denominations and to accept or return the old moneys and the new moneys, comprising: money type judging means for identifying the inserted old moneys and new moneys as authentic or counterfeit and denominations; money storage means for storing money including at least the new moneys, which are identified as authentic by the money type judging means, by denominations; condition judgment means for judging whether a insertion state of the old and new moneys judged by the money type judgment means has reached a predetermined condition; and prohibition means for prohibiting the acceptance of the old moneys after the condition judgment means judged that the insertion state of the old moneys and the new moneys has agreed with the predetermined condition.
The prohibition means is realized so to instruct to return the old money upon determining it as counterfeit b the money types for example.
A still further feature of the subject invention is a prohibition means which comprises: counting means for counting the number of the inserted new moneys; and comparison means for comparing the inserted number of money counted by the counting means with a predetermined reference number of money; and the old moneys are not accepted but returned on condition that the comparison means judges that the number of inserted new moneys has reached the predetermined reference number of money.
A still further feature of the subject invention is a prohibition means which comprises: clocking means for clocking a predetermined period; counting means for counting the number of inserted new moneys; and comparison means for comparing the number of inserted moneys counted by the counting means with a predetermined reference number of money; and the old moneys are not accepted but returned on condition that the comparison means judged that the number of inserted new moneys has reached the predetermined reference number of money within the predetermined period clocked by the clocking means.
A still further feature of the subject invention is a prohibition means which comprises: clocking means for clocking a predetermined period; counting means for counting the number of inserted new moneys and the number of inserted old moneys; insertion number ratio calculation means for calculating a ratio between the number of new moneys and the number of old moneys counted by the counting means; and comparison means for comparing the ratio between the number of new coins and the number of old coins calculated by the insertion number ratio calculation means with a predetermined reference value; and the old moneys are not accepted but returned on condition that the comparison means judged that the ratio between the number of new moneys and the number of old moneys has reached the predetermined reference value within the predetermined period clocked by the clocking means.
A still further feature of the subject invention is a prohibition means which comprises: counting means for counting the number of continuously inserted new moneys; and comparison means for comparing the number of continuously inserted moneys counted by the counting means with a predetermined reference number of money; and the old moneys are not accepted but returned on condition that the comparison means judged that the number of continuously inserted new moneys has reached the predetermined reference number of money.
A still further feature of the subject invention is a money recovery means for recovering the accepted moneys without storing them in the storage means, wherein the money recovery means recovers the old moneys judged by the coin type judgment means and prohibit them from being dispensed.
According to the present invention, when the state of inserting the new money agrees with the predetermined condition in the state that the new money and the old money are being accepted, the acceptance of the old one is stopped, so that the acceptance of the old money can be stopped depending on the circulating state of the new money, which is different in respective regions, without making a setting change involving complex work.